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Akira was a prince, and a good one at that.
He was respectful to his superiors, kind to his subordinates, benevolent to his subjects, and loyal to his nation. Helpful to a fault, it was no small wonder that he was the kingdom’s darling. His parents adored him, and his two siblings admired and doted on him. His people sang his praises, and it was simply understood that he was destined to inherit the kingdom when the time came.
As a prince, Akira had many qualities befitting a leader. He was selfless and he was open-minded and he was caring. Something, however, that often got him condemned at times, was his unfailing bravery. Often conflated with recklessness, Akira would jump into any situation that required his assistance, no matter how dangerous it might have been. It usually earned him a scolding from everyone involved, but Akira would get away with a charming smile and his good looks.
One such instance of this inimitable bravery involved a castle. It stood looming in the blinking sunlight, not very far from where Akira lived in the royal palace. The castle itself had been there for a very long time, longer than Akira had been alive, but ever since he had first laid eyes upon it, it had been in ruins.
The castle was a poorly looking thing, overgrown shrubbery and foliage obscuring any shine it once had. The walls practically fell apart at the touch, and when the wind danced by, the castle’s very foundations seemed to teeter. It appeared to be on the verge of collapsing. There existed not a single person who knew its origins, its purpose, or any possible inhabitants.
Everyone avoided it at all costs.
Surrounding the castle, however, was the most beautiful garden in the kingdom, outclassing even the gardens of the royal family. It had every kind of flower imaginable, from tall orchids and bright, blooming bushes of hydrangeas, to the most delicate of lotuses floating on crystal waters. Akira loved to take walks in this garden, finding it to be his own private solace.
One day, when he was strolling through a path filled with blood-red roses, he heard a soft twittering. Curious, he crouched down to find the source of the sound, when a small bird hopped out of a bush in front of him.
“Aww,” Akira cooed. “Where did you come from, little thing?”
He stretched out a finger, trying to give it a small pet, when, to his great amazement, the bird opened its mouth and began to speak!
“Don’t even think about it,” it snapped, narrowing its beady eyes at Akira.
Akira was rendered speechless. He could do nothing except raise his arms in surrender.
The two stared at each other, sizing the other up as Akira tried to find his voice. Finally, he spoke.
“You’re hurt.”
Indeed, it was true. Upon closer inspection, the bird was badly scratched up in various places. Its wings were torn, feathers sticking out at odd angles. There was a tiny gash above its right eye, and its claws seemed to be clipped more than they should be. All over, smears of red marred its shiny black coat.
The bird made a derisive, cawing noise. “Thanks, I hadn’t noticed.”
Happily enough, there wasn’t much that could deter the prince when he wanted answers. He pressed on. “What happened? Can I help?”
“Do you really want to know?”
“Please. I cannot bear to see another living creature in pain,” Akira said earnestly, and the bird hopped a little closer.
“Very well. I am not really a bird, as you can probably already discern. I am the prince that used to inhabit the castle you see before you. I have been cursed into this form and left to spend the rest of my life in this condition. As long as I am like this, I can never rid myself of this pain.”
The peerless prince could feel his heart cracking. Gently, he took the poor thing into his hands, and most surprisingly, the bird did not object. He lifted the bird so they were at eye level.
“May I know your name? If you’re a prince, I must have heard of you before,” Akira inquired.
The bird hesitated. “It is…not relevant. But, for convenience’s sake, I suppose you can call me Crow.”
“Well then, Crow, it is lovely to meet you. My name is Akira, and I, too, am a prince. From one prince to another, tell me - how can I save you?”
Crow’s dark eyes widened. Then, just as quickly, they narrowed. “It is not possible. Not unless you are willing to go through many trials and tribulations on behalf of someone you do not even know.”
“Then you underestimate my bravery, my good sir. Some call me foolish, and many call me reckless, but I am the prince of this kingdom. It is my duty to help anyone I see who needs it, no matter the challenges I must face.”
Crow sighed, shaking his tiny head. “Clearly, you will not listen to reason, then. But be warned - you would be loath to find a greater hardship in this world.”
Akira smirked. “Then I would be loath to turn it down.”
If birds had eyebrows to raise, Crow surely would have done so. He began to explain the terms of the challenge.
“Though my old castle lies in ruins, in it, there is a single room untouched by the disaster. It has a golden bed, as well as whatever else you might need to survive. For this to work, you must abandon everyone you know and love, and come live with me in that room in the castle.”
Upon hearing these words, Akira paused. Could he really leave behind everything he’d ever known, all for the sake of one creature?
But he had given his word. He had said it was his duty to help anyone who needed it. And God knows Crow needed it.
Akira was a prince, and a good one at that. He would never go back on his word.
So he steeled his gaze, and met Crow’s eyes, determination welling up within him. “I’ll do it. Give me one day to say my goodbyes and gather my things.”
This time, it was Crow’s turn to fall silent, unable to do anything except stare. As Akira lowered him to the ground, he spoke but two words. “Thank you.”
So, Akira went back to his home to explain to his parents the situation. When they heard the news, they begged and pleaded for him to stay, telling him no good would come of playing the hero. But Akira’s resolve was firm. So his parents and his siblings tearfully bade him farewell, and the kingdom’s heart broke a little as their darling prince left them for a mere crow.
On the first day, Akira arranged his things, which did not take long, as he had brought hardly any possessions. Then, he sat down on the bed with Crow in his hands.
“Listen carefully,” Crow said. “You have done well in your steadfast commitment, and I thank you for that. However, things are about to get much harder. Each night, you will be by yourself—I am forbidden from staying in the room with you. You must promise me that no matter what you might hear, or what you might see, you remain absolutely silent until the rooster’s cry at dawn. Many things will happen to sway and terrify you, but if you make even a single noise, my pain will be doubled. Do you understand?”
Akira’s chest tightened, but he nodded, trying to play cool.
When night fell upon the kingdom, submerging it in ink, Akira tidied up as usual and climbed into bed. But try as he might, he could not get sleep to come. When midnight came around, he was as wide awake as he was in the day.
He continued his fruitless quest to fall asleep, when his ears picked up on the sound of someone coming down the hall. An intruder?
The door to his room burst open, and Akira had to stop himself from yelping, remembering Crow’s words. He watched as some ten or twenty humanoid creatures entered the room rather robotically. Some of them were holding bundles of firewood, while others worked together to move a gigantic cauldron filled to the brim with water.
They set about throwing the wood into the fireplace, and lit it ablaze. Carefully and methodically, they placed the cauldron upon the flames, and waited for the water to boil. For a while, all was quiet.
Suddenly, the spirits surged towards him, moaning and groaning, trying to grab at him from all around the bed. In an instant, Akira was up on his feet.
He managed to fight a few of them off, but all of his focus went towards trying not to scream, and in no time at all, the spirits overpowered him. They dragged him towards the cauldron, and Akira could only assume they wanted to kill him by boiling him alive. He went kicking and thrashing, but he did not make a single sound.
Akira was brave, make no mistake, but this was nothing like he’d ever experienced before. His very being was saturated with despair, for he felt sure he was going to die. The heat from the flames licked at his skin, and he shut his eyes, preferring to think of his beloved kingdom in death.
I’m sorry, Crow. I failed you.
Then, like clockwork, he heard the rooster’s cry.
All at once, the spirits vanished, and Akira fell with a thud to the floor. It took him a couple moments to sit up, still reeling from the shock. What had just happened?
As he tried to collect his thoughts, he heard a joyful peep from the other side of the room. He had closed his eyes to try and calm his aching head, but when he opened them again, Crow was sitting on the desk in front of him, looking down.
He raised a wing in acknowledgement. “Are you quite alright?”
“Yes…yes, I think so,” Akira said shakily. He rose on unsteady legs, hauling himself into a nearby loveseat. Crow fluttered over to join him, settling on the arm.
“I must say, you did remarkably well for your first night.” Akira could hear the barely contained delight in Crow’s voice. “You have my gratitude. My pain has already lessened immensely.”
“Thank you.”
Despite it all, Akira was relieved to see Crow looking more chipper. He smiled. “You’re welcome, Crow.”
And so this state of living continued. Every day, Akira would remain in the castle, doing as he pleased. And every night, he fought a silent battle with the vengeful spirits trying to take his life.
One day, his sister, Futaba, insisted on joining him.
“Just one night!” she pleaded. “You’ve been gone for so long, I just want to spend some time with my brother.”
There was no saying no to his sister, so Akira allowed her to join him. Crow had opposed it outright, but it was with much cajoling that they found themselves in the company of one princess Futaba.
That night, they went to sleep like normal, Akira having chosen to sleep on the couch and leave the bed for Futaba. Akira fell asleep within a few short moments, and so did Futaba. For a few hours, all seemed well.
But at midnight, there was a terrible scream.
Akira woke with a start. He whirled round to face the hearth, and saw with bleary vision that Futaba was fighting with all her strength not to get thrown in the cauldron.
All her strength, and all her screams.
The next morning, Akira found Crow lying in a corner of the room, barely moving except for a few twitches every now and then. Futaba was huddled on the bed, knees pulled in close and swaddled in thick blankets.
Akira went to sit with her, placing a hand on her head.
“I did warn you, you know.”
“That’s all you have to say? What is this, Akira? How can you do this?”
Futaba’s eyes were clouded over. She couldn’t even look at him.
“It’s my duty.”
From then on, Akira insisted on staying in the castle alone. He saw Futaba off that morning, and before she left, she gave him a long look.
“I hope you know what you’re doing, Akira.”
I hope I do, too.
After that, Akira remained in the castle in solitude, completing the same tasks day and night. It was a constant struggle, but surprisingly enough, Akira never felt like he was alone.
Over his time spent working to break the curse, Crow proved to be a constant companion, never leaving Akira’s side. Maybe it was because Akira knew he was really a fellow human, or maybe it was because they only had each other, but with him, Akira was able to forge a bond like no other.
They would stroll for walks in the garden, Crow perched on Akira’s shoulder. Other times, they would explore the ruins of the castle, and Crow would tell him about his time living there, and what his home used to be like. And still other times, they would sit in the solitary room and just talk. About anything.
About everything.
Akira shared stories about his life with ease - all the nitty gritty details about his kingdom, his family, and even his deepest fears and desires. In return, Crow opened up to him about his own life. Though somewhat reluctant at first, with each passing day, Crow divulged more and more about who he used to be, and who he wished he could be.
Akira’s only failing was that he could never get Crow to tell him about the curse plaguing him. He resolved that one day, he would change that.
Two years had fallen away like crumbling sand when Crow approached Akira regarding the final phase. It required Akira to leave the castle and undertake the position of a servant for a year.
“Can you do this, Akira? I have asked so much of you already, and you have heeded my every command most generously.”
Smiling, Akira gave Crow a little pet on the head. He had, after much time spent together, allowed some affection to be shown towards him. “Anything for you, Crow.”
So began Akira’s last year of penance, in the form of servitude. He left the castle and joined another kingdom’s royal family as a simple attendant, working directly under the king.
This kingdom, unfortunately, was not known for the same hospitality that Akira’s was. During the year, he suffered ordeals of many kinds. Getting flogged by the warden, being made to clean the stables at night, eating sparsely throughout the day - his troubles had no end. If not for Crow’s awkward encouragement and assurance that he was, in fact, getting better with each day, Akira never could have faced it all.
It was rather endearing. But sometimes Crow landed on the other side of the spectrum.
Once, he had stomped his little twig leg on the table and yelled at Akira with his scratchy voice.
“That’s enough!” he had cried. “I cannot stand to see you go through this! These imbeciles, what makes them think they can treat another human being this way? If I were not in this form, I would kill them all!”
Akira had gasped playfully, bending down to look Crow in the eye. “Crow! Such words are unbecoming of a prince.”
“Akira, how can you endure it? This pain must surely be worse than mine.”
At that, Akira’s eyes had darkened and his voice lost its joking tone. “Crow, your torture is far worse than mine could ever be. Even just knowing you’re in pain causes me pain. So don’t you dare ask me to stop. I will see my duty through to the end.”
And then came a night, when all was quiet and only the chirping of crickets could be heard. Akira was getting ready for bed in his rather tiny room (he missed the ruins of the castle dearly), wondering where Crow had gotten to, when a tiny torpedo came zooming through his open window and into his waiting hands.
It was rather like instinct for Akira, at this point, to be at the ready to catch Crow. More than a few times, Crow had flown at him with zero warning, and Akira had had no choice but to catch him if he didn’t want to be pummeled. It was just another part of Crow’s abrasive personality.
Akira loved it.
Now, however, he looked down at Crow with concern. The bird had been gone the whole day. “What’s wrong?”
“Akira!”
“Crow?”
“You did it! You broke the curse!”
And before Crow could say anything more, his form began to change, growing in size. Akira shut his eyes as a bright light enveloped the room, and the weight in his hands grew heavier, much heavier.
He shifted his posture and his grip as his arms found purchase on a warm body, holding it up. He opened his eyes to find…
…a very handsome man glaring at him.
“Would you be so kind as to put me down?”
“Oh, sorry! Sorry.” Akira scrambled to form coherent thoughts as he gently set the other down.
Now that the youth was back on his feet, he looked a little sheepish. “I do apologize for that callous introduction. I’ve just been a bird for so long that I would prefer to start my life as human again completely in control.”
“You’re…Crow?”
The man smiled tentatively. “Yes, I am. You saved me, Akira.”
Overwhelmed by the situation as he was, there really was only one thing Akira could do.
Pull Crow into a giant hug.
“Wha—!”
Akira nuzzled his face in the crook of Crow’s neck, squeezing him tight. “Thank god, thank god—you’re ok, I’m ok, we’re all ok—I can’t believe it, we did it, we’re all ok—!”
“I’ve never known you to be this snivelly in the past three years,” Crow teased, even as his arms came up to clutch at Akira’s back.
“Shut up. Let me have this.”
Crow chuckled, and for a while they stood there, bodies intertwined. At last, Akira extracted himself from the hug. He had an important question.
Carefully, he tucked a piece of Crow’s tawny brown hair behind his ear. “You’ve kept me waiting three years. I know almost everything about you. Don’t deny me now.”
“After what I’ve put you through? Anything.”
“May I know your name?”
Crow sucked in a sharp breath through his teeth. “Is it really ok? I was…forbidden from sharing my name with anyone while under the curse.”
“But you’re not under the curse anymore, right?” Akira stroked Crow’s cheek, pulling his gaze to him. “You’re free.”
Crow intertwined Akira’s free hand with his own. For courage, or for comfort, Akira didn’t know, but he didn’t mind either way.
“Then…my name is Akechi. Goro Akechi.”
“Akechi…” Akira tried out the name, rolling it around in his mouth, relishing the feel of it on his lips. “Can I call you Goro?”
“Shut up.”
“Hey, you call me Akira!”
Goro smiled at that, and it struck Akira’s heart. “I suppose I do.”
“Well then, Goro, once again—it’s lovely to meet you. Let’s go home.”
Goro closed his eyes, and the warmth from their proximity nourished Akira’s soul. “Yes, Akira. Let’s go home.”